Thinking and waiting

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ldot123
ldot123 Member Posts: 272
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi there,

Went for the CT Scan today and now will wait a couple weeks to see the onc with the results. While waiting for the scan I started runinating about this sore knee that I developed a week and a half ago. I had been working out at the gym and had put some stress on the knee joint so it was a bit sore. The next day I slipped on some ice and kind of wrenched the knee. I have been limping around ever since with some occassional severe pain. The family doc did not think that anything was torn and that it would take a good couple of weeks to heal. I started thinking about the possibility of recurrence settling in the knee. I know I have never heard an instance of this happening but I wondered what your thoughts might be. I will talk to the onc about this when I see him and my good sense tells me it is unrelated, but there is something about the waiting game at check up time that gets you to thinking of any possibility. Sorry if this seems trivial but I just needed to share these thoughts.

Thanks for your continued support,
Lance

Comments

  • Kanort
    Kanort Member Posts: 1,272 Member
    #2
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    Normal!
    Hi Lance,

    Thinking of the worst case scenario is so normal. I am five years out of surgery and had my final CT on Monday. I only had to wait 24 hours to get my NED results, but even though my logical mind knew that all was well, my mind went places it shouldn't.

    Can't you call your oncologist's office and get a verbal report? It's done quite often here.

    Since you have reasonable explanations for your pain, I know that it just hasn't had time to properly heal.

    Thanks for sharing your fears....we all have them.

    Hugs,

    Kay
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #3
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    I have knee problems as well
    While it's not likely to be related to recurrence, it IS likely to be an effect of chemo. My knee joints and thumb joints are now practically bone on bone, having lost almost all of the cartilage between them. Osteoporosis is fairly common from radiation and apparently from chemo, since I haven't had any radiation. Just another thing to add to the list of this SUCKS, but better than being on the other side, at least for now! Definitely see a doctor to see if you can minimize further damage. My knees are managed well with Celebrex, for now. My thumbs... I am going to have to go see a doc... I am losing functional use faster than I would like and don't want to completely lose the ability to use that joint. I knit and crochet a lot for relaxation, not to mention that I am a computer programmer by trade. I suppose I could find an implement to help with keyboard input, but very hard to knit or crochet without use of my thumbs!
    mary
  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375
    #4
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    You beez normal :)
    Hey Lance... welcome to the Normal Club :D This whole cancer thing takes a lot more out of us than we give it credit for... both on a physical and an emotional level. I know the doctors are doing their darndest to kill the beast with the various necessary poisons that have to be inflicted so when we come out the other end still able to function totally normal, well, they don't seem to take the "OWWWW! My knee(s) really hurt!!" or "I can't really explain it but my whole body aches... I can't tell if it's joint pain or muscle pain". They just nod their head but don't really seem to take too much note. You'll get everything from, "Well, this is all part of aging, so it's not necessarily related to the cancer" or "Your body has been through an awful lot so just give it time". None of which answers your concerns like, "Should I be worried about this?? Should we be doing something to nip it in the bud now??"

    But, it's true... after the huge shock we go through just being diagnosed with cancer, then the physical/emotional shock of all the treatments/drugs/poisons we have to put our body through, is it any wonder we worry about every new ache and or pain?

    And yes, we do know that chemo and radiation cause all kinds of potential symptoms... but the doctors don't know every single symptom or damage it can do because no two patients are the same. I have found that the arthritis I had in my knees pre-DX is worse than it ever was, and this is a year after I finished chemo. So, part could be I'm that much older, but I know in my gut that the chemo did damage and really aggravated the knee joints. Likewise, joints where I DIDN'T have arthritis before (fingers, elbows, ankles) now have it too. Is that aging? Or is that more chemo damage? I don't think anyone really knows.

    I don't give it too much thought but every now and again I realize that I must have it pretty bad because I take 400mg of Celebrex/day (max. dosage), 2-4 prescription Tylenol 3's with codiene, Genecol (a herbal collagen replacement) and Ibuprofen as needed. That's a whole heap of pain meds just for "the aging process" :)

    So, don't think you are being trivial... you aren't. My guess is that, had you not gone through the cancer and you wretched your knee, you would have noticed it and the accompanying pain and would think, "Oh, well, that makes sense, after all, I wretched it." But now, my guess is it is probably that much sorer and you are very very aware of your body and how it reacts to every little thing now. But give it time... it should heal just fine.

    Hugggggs,

    Cheryl
  • ldot123
    ldot123 Member Posts: 272
    #5
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    CherylHutch said:

    You beez normal :)
    Hey Lance... welcome to the Normal Club :D This whole cancer thing takes a lot more out of us than we give it credit for... both on a physical and an emotional level. I know the doctors are doing their darndest to kill the beast with the various necessary poisons that have to be inflicted so when we come out the other end still able to function totally normal, well, they don't seem to take the "OWWWW! My knee(s) really hurt!!" or "I can't really explain it but my whole body aches... I can't tell if it's joint pain or muscle pain". They just nod their head but don't really seem to take too much note. You'll get everything from, "Well, this is all part of aging, so it's not necessarily related to the cancer" or "Your body has been through an awful lot so just give it time". None of which answers your concerns like, "Should I be worried about this?? Should we be doing something to nip it in the bud now??"

    But, it's true... after the huge shock we go through just being diagnosed with cancer, then the physical/emotional shock of all the treatments/drugs/poisons we have to put our body through, is it any wonder we worry about every new ache and or pain?

    And yes, we do know that chemo and radiation cause all kinds of potential symptoms... but the doctors don't know every single symptom or damage it can do because no two patients are the same. I have found that the arthritis I had in my knees pre-DX is worse than it ever was, and this is a year after I finished chemo. So, part could be I'm that much older, but I know in my gut that the chemo did damage and really aggravated the knee joints. Likewise, joints where I DIDN'T have arthritis before (fingers, elbows, ankles) now have it too. Is that aging? Or is that more chemo damage? I don't think anyone really knows.

    I don't give it too much thought but every now and again I realize that I must have it pretty bad because I take 400mg of Celebrex/day (max. dosage), 2-4 prescription Tylenol 3's with codiene, Genecol (a herbal collagen replacement) and Ibuprofen as needed. That's a whole heap of pain meds just for "the aging process" :)

    So, don't think you are being trivial... you aren't. My guess is that, had you not gone through the cancer and you wretched your knee, you would have noticed it and the accompanying pain and would think, "Oh, well, that makes sense, after all, I wretched it." But now, my guess is it is probably that much sorer and you are very very aware of your body and how it reacts to every little thing now. But give it time... it should heal just fine.

    Hugggggs,

    Cheryl

    Thanks
    Thanks everyone. The mind does you in sometimes. And hey Cheryl, I like the new pic!

    Lance

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